Aug. 3, 1961 - A plastic blue whale with a mouth that is wider than a Volkswagen and higher than a telephone booth arrived today at the Children's Zoo in Central Park. Within seconds of its arrival, dozens of children were leaning over the park's wall, pointing and exclaiming, "Look, a whale!" None of them will be permitted to be swallowed up by the plastic monster until after Aug. 15, when the zoo is scheduled to open. The whale's designer, Edward Coe Embury, said, "The whole zoo is built around stories familiar to children. Jonah's whale, which this represents, is the most famous whale there is. On the other side of the zoo is the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. There are also the Three Little Pigs."
